1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to the maze games where a player uses his/her dexterity to guide a game piece through the complex pathway of a maze. More particularly, the present invention relates to maze games where a spinning top is the object guided through the maze.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is replete with various different types of games where the objective of the game is to manipulate a game piece through a maze. The most common of such prior art games use a metal ball or marble as a game piece. The metal ball is placed on a maze that can be tilted in at least two different planes. By tilting the maze in different directions, the metal ball can be made to follow the path of the maze. Such prior art games are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,341 to Martinez, entitled Tilting Maze Race Game.
In order to make maze games a little more challenging, maze games have been developed where a spinning top is used as the game piece rather than a metal ball. By using a spinning top as the game piece, a player now only has a limited amount of time to complete the maze. If a player takes too long, the top will lose energy and stop spinning before it completes the maze. Maze games that use spinning tops are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,830 to Tobin, entitled Constructable Spinning Top Maze.
Maze games require that the players develop certain skills to successfully complete the game. With many prior art maze games, the maze is fixed. Accordingly, once a player successfully completes the maze, the game no longer is challenging and the player quickly loses interest in the game. Certain manufacturers address this problem by making mazes that are extremely difficult to complete. As such, a player may have to attempt the maze for many hours before the player has the experience and skills needed to complete the maze. However, such complex maze games are of no interest to smaller children who do not yet have the motor skills needed to play such a complex maze game.
A need therefore exists for a maze game that can be selectively varied both in its physical layout and in the level of skill needed to play the game. Such a maze game can then be played by a wider demographic of players and players will not quickly lose interest in the game. Such a need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.
The present invention is a toy top maze game. The maze game includes a maze board upon which at least one spinning top is placed. The maze board has a top surface. A grove is disposed in the top surface of the maze board. The groove defines a maze pathway capable of guiding the spinning top placed on the maze board. The maze pathway on the maze board follows a pattern that is capable of being selectively altered between a plurality of possible patterns. By changing the pattern of the maze pathway, different patterns can be created that vary in both length and complexity. Accordingly, the maze board can be reconfigured to match the skills of the person playing the game.